


Logan’s Island

by KieraElieson



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Gen, Human!Virgil, Implied Child Abuse, Logan and Patton kidnap/adopt Virgil, Logan doesn’t understand humans, Mer!Janus, Pirate!Remus, Pirate!Roman, Pirates, at all, human!patton, marooning, mer!logan, mer!remus, mer!roman, self harm mention, slight angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-15
Updated: 2020-07-13
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:08:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23148259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KieraElieson/pseuds/KieraElieson
Summary: Logan has an island out at sea. It’s all his, and just his, until one day when it isn’t. What is he going to do with this human that’s just been left here?
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Logic | Logan Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Morality | Patton Sanders, Logic | Logan Sanders & Morality | Patton Sanders
Comments: 128
Kudos: 307





	1. Chapter 1

The storm had only just subsided, and the sea was still angry and wild. It was the perfect time for hunting. 

Logan always found the most food just after a storm. While he was not opposed to eating the deep-sea fish, they left him craving variety. 

He had an island to himself. It was small, but just large enough to have a small freshwater pond in it. Because of this, the human ships forced to land there often let what few animals they sometimes had onto the island to drink. It was the perfect trap. 

Although, with how frequently he’d used it, the island was starting to get a reputation for being haunted, and the humans weren’t stopping there unless they absolutely had to. 

Logan swam once around the island, but there wasn’t a ship there at the moment. He shifted into a form comparable to human, and walked up onto the island. Perhaps he’d cook one of his freshwater fishes. There weren’t enough of them yet to eat a whole meal, but one or two wouldn’t harm his growing population too much. 

Logan stopped short when he saw something that was not supposed to be on his island. It was a human. The human was tied to a tree, slumped in either sleep or unconsciousness. Or, Logan considered, it could also be dead. It had something tied over its eyes, and it’s exposed skin was red with sunburn. It must have been here a while then. 

Well, the first thing to do would be to ascertain whether or not it was alive. Logan put his hand to its throat, feeling for a pulse, and the human jerked his head up with a terrified sound. 

**_“Hush,”_ ** Logan said, rather annoyed. 

The human’s mouth snapped closed, but his breathing quickened. It was clearly terrified. 

Well, now that he knew it was alive, Logan had to deceive whether he wanted to keep it alive or kill it. He’d rather not just leave it to die, but he didn’t have a particular liking for humans, so he wasn’t certain if he wanted to keep it. It would certainly have to stay on his island if he did. 

Logan left the human and went to his pond. He took a large leaf, and used it as a cup to gather water. He brought it back to the human and pressed it to its lips. 

**_“Drink.”_ **

The human drank the water greedily, and when it was gone started sobbing. 

Logan frowned in confusion. That hadn’t been the response he expected to get. He left the human alone again and went back to the sea. He wasn’t going to waste his freshwater fish on a human. 

After a while, he had the fish roasting over a fire. He stared into the flames, thoughts racing through his brain. The pros and cons of keeping a human. If he kept it, should he leave it tied up or allow it to roam? Tied up would be less of an annoyance, but if he freed it it could care for itself. 

The fish was soon done, far before he’d made up his mind. He went back to the human with a smallish piece. It wouldn’t be good for the human to eat too much if it hadn’t eaten in several days. 

The human’s head came up as soon as it could hear him. Logan pressed some of the fish against its mouth, and didn’t have to give any kind of command before the human was eating. 

When Logan turned away, and the human realized that he wasn't going to feed it anymore, it spoke, in a raspy, pained voice. “Thank you.”

Logan turned back to the human, mildly curious. 

“This is— you own this island, don’t you?” The human asked. 

“The sea owns the island,” Logan said, his voice unused to the human language. “But I have claimed it, yes.”

“Please, may I stay?” The human asked. 

Logan was surprised. In all his thinking, he hadn’t considered that the human’s would  _ want  _ to stay, much less that he would  _ ask. _

“Please, please don’t kill me. O-or leave me here.” And the human was crying again. 

“If you were left here like this, surely you were intended to die,” Logan commented. 

The human wrenched with a sob. “I know… but I don’t want to die. Please.”

“Should I consider your desires in my decision?”

“Please…” the human asked pitifully, dissolving into sobs. 

Logan couldn’t think clearly with the human carrying on like this. He went back to the beach, and ate his own dinner. 

Finally he decided. He’d let the human stay. If for nothing else, he certainly brought up more questions. And Logan enjoyed having more questions. 

He buried the bones and scales in the sand, not wanting to bother with them any longer. He went back to the human, who was still crying, but much more quietly now. 

The human didn’t notice his approach this time, so he made a click in the back of his throat, not wanting to startle the human. The human started shaking. 

Logan reached behind the human’s head, and untied the blindfold. He lifted it away, and found that it left a strip of white skin it had covered, and pale blue eyes that were rimmed with red and swimming with tears. 

The human looked straight into his eyes, not roaming its gaze over his body like many humans did, and not looking as if it was scared of him. Logan was now further intrigued. He moved to the back of the tree, untying the ropes. 

As soon as the human was released it fell to the ground, letting out sounds of pain and curling up, rubbing at its hands and lower legs. 

“Are you injured?” Logan asked. 

“I-it hurts…” the human whined. 

Logan wasn’t very knowledgeable in human healing, and just left the human alone to heal itself however it was able. He went back to the beach, rolling the new questions over and over in his head as he stared at the fire. 

The night grew long, and the fire slowly burned out. Logan laid back, watching the stars instead. There was a shuffling sound, and the human laid down near him. Logan turned his gaze to the human, who was watching him just as intently. 

“Am I allowed to stay?” The human whispered. 

“Yes,” Logan said, further inspecting his human. 

Wait. 

_ His  _ human? 

Where had that come from? 

The human was still looking directly at his face. Logan was surprised that the human wasn’t more curious about his markings. 

“My name is Patton,” the human whispered. “What’s yours?”

Logan scanned the human’s face, wondering why he wanted to know his name. “Logan.”

Patton gave him a slight smile, and then closed his eyes. 

Logan turned his gaze back up to the stars, now having far more questions to roll around. 

He moved Patton to the shade before he went back to the sea. 

  * •^*^••



Logan returned a few days later. When he arrived Patton was asleep, underneath a lean to he’d made to keep out of the sun. He was near the pond, and had a well-used firepit, around which Logan could see the signs of eaten fish. His freshwater fish. 

At first, he was very much inclined to be angry, but he realized that he had neither told Patton to leave them alone, nor had he given him an alternate source of food. 

Logan went back to the ocean, and brought back quite a large fish. He started cooking it in Patton’s firepit. 

“Logan!” Patton exclaimed, nearly startling him. 

“What?” Logan asked, annoyed. 

“You’re back!” 

“Yes. That seems redundant, as we can both clearly see that I am here.”

“I thought you weren’t coming back!”

“It’s my island, of course I would return.”

Patton started bouncing up and down. Logan narrowed his eyes, trying to understand the behavior. “Is something the matter?”

Patton shook his head. “I’m just happy. You’re the only real person out here.”

“I am not human.”

“I know. But I can still talk to you, and touch you, and— and I can know I’m not crazy.”

“I would prefer that you do not touch me,” Logan said. 

“Ok. But I can still talk to you!”

“Yes, I suppose you can. Is talking to a person an important thing for humans?”

Patton nodded. “If we don’t we tend to go crazy.”

Logan nodded slowly. This would need more consideration. “I suppose I’ll have to return more frequently.”

Patton’s eyes went wide, and he came even closer. “Can you come a lot? Like every day?”

“Every day would quickly become tiring.”

“I can be distracting! I won’t be tiring! I can— if you need quiet I can also be quiet!”

“Your mere existence tires me, and will likely continue to do so until I understand you more. I need to have adequate time to consider.”

Patton wilted. “Please don’t leave me alone.”

“I have already expressed an intention to return frequently.” 

Patton nodded slowly. “How many days is frequently?”

“I haven’t decided.”

Patton nodded, his head down. 

“Are you upset?”

“Well, kinda. I’ve just been really lonely.”

“Should I find you another human? Humans are typically in groups, is this a necessity?”

“Well, yeah, we need to be together but you can’t just go and kidnap someone!”

“There is no need of kidnapping. There are several places where humans are abandoned frequently. Given a few weeks, I am certain to come across one.”

Patton’s eyes were wide, but it seemed to be for a different reason this time. Logan really needed more time alone to understand this. 

“They just die out there?”

Logan shrugged. “I haven’t waited around to see.”

“Well you have—!” Patton cut himself off. “Yes, please rescue another human and bring them here.”

Logan nodded. 

After a short silence, Patton tried making small talk, which Logan didn’t so much participate in as he analyzed. 

  * •^*^••



Logan’s eye was drawn by movement, and he swam upward. 

There was a human child, struggling to remain on top of a board. This was especially strange as they were quite a ways from shore. He could still see land in the distance, but likely the child was unable to. This also was not one of the places he had intended to check for humans. 

Logan raised his head above the water, allowing himself a few seconds to adjust to the air before speaking. 

However, in those few seconds, the human child was panicking, thrusting away from him with all the speed it could muster. 

**_“Calm yourself.”_ ** Logan commanded, lifting the child and setting it on the board before it could drown itself. 

After a few minutes, the child was calm, his eyes glassy from the control. 

“Why are you out here?” Logan asked. 

“I’m running away.”

“You’re more likely to die than to successfully escape if your vessel consists of a single board.”

“It used to be a raft, but it broke.” 

“I see. Well, I suppose I was looking for a human. You’ll do as well as any.”

“Are you going to eat me?”

Logan’s face twisted in disgust. “The few times I’ve resorted to eating humans were marked low points in my life. No, I do not intend to eat you. I have a human that would like company.”

The child curled in on himself. “I don’t like humans.” 

Logan nodded, starting off for the island and pulling the board behind him. “Neither do I, and yet this one seems different.”

“Does your human like kids?”

“I don’t know. I do not imagine that he dislikes them.”

The child curled in on himself farther, and Logan turned to see that he was exhausted, and beginning to fall asleep. 

“If your human is mean to me I’ll run away again.”

Logan took the child in his arms. This made the second human he found himself growing attached to. And yet he could not find what made them different. “If my human is mean to you I’ll take you away myself. But I don’t think he will be.” 

The child nodded, his eyes slipping closed. 

  * •^*^••



Patton is woken by crying. Logan is coming towards his little ‘camp’ and carrying a little boy, who’s crying and clinging to him. 

“I don’t want to! I’m scared!” 

“Hush, he’s right here.” 

The boy turned to look at Patton, and then buried his face in Logan’s chest. 

“Hey, what’s the matter?”

The little boy started crying harder as Logan tried to push him into Patton’s arms. 

“Logan, Logan, wait, he doesn’t want to come to me.”

Logan frowned, but he let the boy cling to him. 

“Hey, buddy,” Patton said, coming closer. “What’s the matter?”

“I don’t want you!” The little boy nearly screams. 

“It’s ok, I won’t touch you. Are you alright?”

The crying started dying down. “ ‘m fine.”

“Wonderful, then you can get down,” Logan said, trying again to push the child away from him. 

The little boy got down, but hid behind Logan’s legs, causing him to sigh heavily. “I’m leaving. I’ve had barely any time to myself and this just introduces a whole new host of problems.”

“No!” The little boy screams. “No, don’t leave me! Please!”

“Why do all the humans I meet seem to require my presence?” Logan said, clearly getting more annoyed. “I will return.”

The little boy was holding tightly to Logan’s leg. “Don’t leave!”

**_“Calm yourself and let go.”_ ** Logan said, and Patton felt a wave of calm wash over him, placating his worries. 

The little boy let go of Logan and sat down. 

Logan turned and walked into the sea, leaving Patton wondering idly how long it would be until he came back. 

“If you touch me I’ll run away,” the boy said, hugging his knees up to his chest. 

“It’s ok. I won’t. I’m just going to make some dinner.” Patton said lightly. 

  * •^*^••



Logan returned to the island several days later, feeling much better. It was the middle of the afternoon, and when he found Patton, he was asleep, with the child laying on top of him, also asleep. 

Logan was pleased with this development. His humans seemed happy. Though, that was an odd thought. Why did he care if they were happy? He’d never cared for humans. But strangely, he found himself still pleased. 

The child’s eyes cracked open, and then he jumped up, jabbing Patton in the stomach with his hand. “Logan!”

Logan was suddenly tackled by the small human. When he made his way back to a sitting position Patton was standing very close, longing in his eyes. 

“Can I hug you too?”

Logan sighed. Humans really seemed to require physical touch. “You may.” 

He was tackled to the ground again. Both of his humans were giggling. Maybe this wasn’t so bad. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	2. Patton’s Perspective

Everything hurt. His arms and legs were stiff, and his skin burned as the sun beat down on him. He’d been marooned here for two days, and he didn’t know what he was more afraid of, dying here, or having the sea monster find him. 

Tears started leaking from his eyes again. He’d never thought that there could be a mutiny. And he’d certainly never thought that his shipmates could be so cruel to those who had sided with the captain. Even this was supposed to be some sort of leniency, giving him to the sea monster, letting him try to beg for his life if he could. 

Some mercy. 

Patton cried himself to sleep yet again, wishing it could all be over, or at least that night would come and give him some more shade. 

He was startled awake by a hand on his throat, and he cried out. 

“Hush.” A deeply accented voice commanded, and Patton’s mouth shut on its own. 

Patton trembled and just tried to keep breathing, his breath coming too fast and his legs shaking. He couldn’t see through the blindfold, but he knew the sea monster must have found him. He was dead, he was going to die. 

And then he heard footsteps walking away. It was leaving? 

The footsteps came back a minute later though, and Patton’s terror returned. 

Something touched his mouth, and the monster spoke again. “Drink.”

Patton opened his mouth entirely willingly, and the cool, sweet water slipped inside. It was the best feeling he’d had in ages and ages and he kept drinking until it was gone, sobbing with relief at the wonderful feeling and disappointment that it was now gone. 

He opened his mouth to beg for more, but the monster was walking away. 

Patton had never seen it. He’d heard stories from the other sailors who had, stories about how massive, fierce, and terrifying it was. Stories that told of fins and fangs, and a voice that could kill. 

But he’d been given water. Maybe… maybe, and the hope stabbed through him, he wouldn’t die. Maybe the monster wasn’t a monster. Maybe he could get some kind of pity from it, just enough to be allowed to live.

He was left alone for a long time, or perhaps it just seemed long, minutes dragging into long hours. He smelled something other than salt. Smoke, and then fish. 

His heart leapt up, screaming that sea monsters didn’t cook fish! They ate it raw! It must be for him! Please be for him! 

And then footsteps coming near, and something warm pressed against his lips. Patton didn’t care that he had no idea what it was, he ate it, and ate every bit of it, saddened again by how little there was. 

There was a small sound, the monster was turning away, he had to do something fast!

“Thank you,” he croaked out, his voice sore and cracked from the crying and lack of water. 

There was no answer, but the monster wasn’t leaving either. He had to keep going. 

“This is—you own this island, don’t you?” He asked, strongly tempted to believe that this must not be the monster at all with the kindness he’d already shown Patton. 

“The sea owns this island,” the voice said, not as deep and commanding as before, but still heavily accented, and now Patton could tell that it was clearly male. “But I have claimed it, yes.”

So it was his. And if it was his then Patton had to ask to stay, and maybe, just maybe, oh please say yes! 

“Please, may I stay?” Patton asked, his lip trembling as tears threatened to spill yet again. 

There wasn’t an answer. He’d overestimated the monster’s kindness. 

Patton started crying. “Please, please don’t kill me. O-or leave me here.” 

“If you were left here like this, surely you were intended to die.”

Patton’s whole body shook with the sob at that reminder. “I know…” he was probably barely making sense anymore. “But I don’t want to die! Please.”

“Should I consider your desires in my decision?”

Patton didn’t dare say yes, no matter how much he wanted to. He sobbed out another “please,” before he heard the monster walk away. 

He was being left. He was being left to die. 

Patton couldn’t stop crying. His only chance and he’d lost it. 

It was a long time later that there was a sudden click near him, alerting him that the monster was back. He’d changed his mind, he was just going to kill Patton now. 

Patton froze when something touched the back of his head, and the blindfold was removed, letting the paler light of twilight hit his eyes. He stared straight into the monster’s eyes, which were remarkably human-like, in hopes of a final chance. It wouldn’t kill him while he was looking into its eyes, surely. Nothing was that cruel and callous, not even sea monsters. 

It stared back into his eyes for a few seconds, and then moved around to behind the tree. The ropes gave way a moment later and Patton crumpled forward. His sunburn felt as if it had lit on fire, and the blood rushing to his limbs hurt. 

Patton gasped and groaned, rubbing at his hurting limbs and biting back a yelp as he stretched sunburned skin. 

“Are you injured?” The mer asked. 

Seeing him now, he must be far more mer than sea monster, but Patton barely spared him a glance, far too preoccupied at the moment. “I-it hurts,” he hissed, a whine of pain slipping into his voice. 

The mer just turned and walked away. 

Patton laid there until the shock of the pain had worn off. He knew there was a pool somewhere inland, somewhere close, and all he wanted to do was to lay in it and drink until his stomach was full. 

It took a long time, but he managed to drag himself to the water, and moaned in sheer relief as it touched his skin, tempted to cry yet again. 

He stayed in the water for a long time, and then got out and wandered to the beach, hoping to find some leftover fish near the fire. 

The mer was still there, laying on his back and looking up at the stars. 

Patton hid behind a tree for a few minutes, wondering what he should do. 

But finally he decided. He needed to make some kind of bond. If the mer liked him, he was less likely to change his mind and kill him. 

So he went and laid down next to him, mirroring his pose. The mer turned his head to look at him, and Patton kept his gaze on his eyes. You just weren’t mean to someone when they looked right in your eyes, and he hoped that it was the same for mers. 

He started with what he desperately hoped was a safe question, one that he would get a yes to. “Am I allowed to stay?” He whispered, as it seemed like a very whispery situation. 

The mer said “yes,” so simply, but it made Patton’s heart leap. 

“My name is Patton. What’s yours?” Patton whispered, trying to sound almost cheerful. 

There was a pause before the mer replied. “Logan.”

Patton gave him a small smile, and then turned his face up to the stars and closed his eyes. Logan seemed to only like interacting in small, bite-sized chunks, and Patton didn’t want to push it. 

It took very little time, with properly laying down and having something pleasantly filling his stomach, for Patton to fall into a deep sleep. 

  
  
  



	3. A rather eventful day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter takes place about a week after the end of chapter one.

They had a nice hollow dug out beneath the lean to, and Virgil was napping inside when suddenly Patton shook his shoulder. 

“Virgil, there’s a boat trying to land. I’m going to cover you up, and you can’t move or talk, ok?”

“Huh?” Virgil said, frowning. 

“Just be still and quiet, ok, kiddo?”

Virgil nodded, still trying to clear cobwebs away from his mind. 

Patton dragged over driftwood and palm leaves, covering over Virgil. Virgil could only barely see out. Patton picked up a stick that still had a glowing end, and stood near the fire, looking out to the beach. 

Distantly, Virgil could hear voices. Just two it seemed, though if they came from a ship there would surely be more coming. 

“Oh, look what we have here,” one of the voices said, and Virgil saw as he walked right up to Patton, easily knocking the stick away with a short sword. “And who might you be?”

Virgil could see the slightest tremble in Patton’s hands before he clenched them and lifted his chin. 

“My name is Patton. But it isn’t me you have to worry about. This is Logan’s island, and he won’t like that you’re here.”

“Logan?” Another man asked, circling behind Patton. “We’ve never heard of any Logan.”

“It isn’t a very intimidating name anyway,” the first man said. “Nothing like the Prince and the Duke.”

Patton stiffened. Even Virgil, sheltered more inland, had heard of the Prince and the Duke, pirates that had never once been caught despite the very many times people had tried. 

“So you’ve heard of us!” The second said happily. 

Now that he knew their names, Virgil could guess that the one in red, still holding his sword casually, but far too close to Patton, was the Prince, and the man behind Patton in green was the Duke. They both towered over Patton nearly as much as Logan did, and definitely seemed to enjoy how much he had to look up to see their faces. 

“This Logan,” the Prince said casually, stepping forward and tipping Patton’s chin slightly higher, running his thumb along his jaw. “How did he manage to get such a beautiful person to stay here waiting for him?”

Patton shook his face free, trying to step back but only running into the other brother, who held his shoulders to keep him in place. 

Virgil’s stomach clenched. He had to do something. Patton had told him to be still, but he couldn’t let him be hurt. 

The Prince raised an eyebrow, still waiting on an answer. 

“He saved my life,” Patton said, the slightest quaver in his voice. 

“I see,” the Prince said slowly. “Saved your life and left you as his faithful guard. But of what treasure? And such a waste, really, you aren’t much suited to be a guard.”

“I-I’m not a guard.”

“No?” The Duke asked. “Then why’d he leave you here?”

“I asked to stay.”

“Asked to stay? Here? Surely not.” The Prince said, bringing his sword up to point at Patton’s throat and nodding to the Duke, who let go of him and started looking around. 

“I did.” Patton insisted. “There isn’t any treasure here.”

“Oh, now I find that hard to believe. There’s nothing here but a handful of fish. You know as well as I do that eventually you’ll get sick of fish. There’s no reason for you to stay. Especially since this Logan doesn’t seem to like ‘his island’ all that much.” The Prince shifted his sword to lay on Patton’s shoulder, the sharp side pressing slightly against his neck. 

Patton’s jaw clenched. “You know, you aren’t so big and scary as you think you are.”

The Prince’s jaw dropped open, and the Duke burst into cackling laughter. “He saw right through you, tiny!”

“I am not!” The Prince said in a near-shriek. 

The Duke was laughing so hard he fell to the ground, and the Prince seemed to be getting angrier and angrier. 

And then suddenly, Virgil’s eye caught the Duke’s and he jumped up. “What’s this?”

He started pulling boards off the top of the hole. 

Patton screamed out a “NO!” And jerked to the side, running for Virgil, but just getting tackled by the Prince. 

Virgil shrieked and ran. He ran right to the sea, screaming Logan’s name and hoping he could be heard. There were footsteps behind him, but he didn’t care, plunging into the waves, and still screaming for Logan. 

Just as he got under the water massive hands picked him up, shrinking as they carried him back towards shore. Virgil clung to Logan’s shoulder, telling the whole story as fast as he could and urging him to get back to the middle of the island as fast as he could. 

The Duke stumbled back, falling on his butt. “ _ You’re  _ Logan??! Ro! Ro get over here! We’re so sorry, we had no idea this was your island and your humans, we never would’ve bothered them if we knew. Roman!”

The Prince emerged from the tree line, and paled immediately. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry, we’re sorry, please, we didn’t mean it.”

“I am  _ not _ the one to which you owe an apology.” Logan said sternly. 

They got to the middle of the island, and Patton cried as soon as he saw Logan and Virgil, running to hug them tightly. 

“What kind of humans—“ the Duke’s words fizzled out as Logan glared at him, leaving only his confused look. 

Logan set Virgil down, and Patton gripped him tightly, still sniffing slightly. 

Both the Prince and the Duke were staring at them, twin frowns on their faces, looking confused and disbelieving. 

Logan crossed his arms. “I will not say it a third time. Apologize to Patton and Virgil immediately.”

“They’re— humans.” The Prince said. 

“Humans which  _ you _ terrorized for sport.” Logan said coldly. 

The Prince was still a few more seconds. But then he bowed deeply from his waist. “I apologize. I misjudged both you and the situation, and what I did was wrong and cruel.”

His twin bowed too, giving a much quicker apology. 

“It wouldn’t have been right even if I was someone different.” Patton said, clearly feeling bolder now that Logan was here. 

“It would!” The Prince said. “Most humans are evil, and then it’s fine.”

Patton shook his head. “It’s not. Bullying people just cause they bullied other people doesn’t help anything.”

“Humans burn and rape and kill,” the Duke said firmly. “Compared to that, what we do is nothing.”

“It isn’t nothing!” Patton said. “It’s still bullying, and bullying is still wrong. And it doesn’t help.”

They started arguing then, with Patton saying that it wasn’t right to kill, and the two of them both arguing that it was ok if the people they killed were evil anyway. 

Virgil looked up at Logan, who was frowning deeply. He squirmed out of Patton’s arms just in time to follow Logan, who was walking away. 

“I need to think, Virgil,” Logan said, wading into the ocean. 

Virgil ran up and grabbed his hand. “Take me with you. I can think with you.”

So Logan picked him up, and shifted into his mer form, which was several times as large as his humanish form. He laid Virgil on his chest and floated on his back, staring up into the sky. 

Virgil was quiet, just looking up at the sky too, watching as the colors shifted as the sun neared the horizon. 

It was a long time before Logan spoke. “What do you think, Virgil?”

“I think I want to stay away from the mean people.”

Logan let out a long hum, as his eyes glassed over like they did when he was thinking. He did a lot of thinking. He must be really, really smart. 

The sun set completely, and Virgil just laid there, rocking back and forth with the motion of the waves. 

In the distance, he saw a flash of color, and the color got closer. He patted Logan carefully, and Logan shifted to be upright, holding Virgil on one shoulder. 

The Prince and the Duke swam towards them, not wearing their pirate clothes anymore, but with long tails, longer than Logan’s would be if he were their size. The Duke was about half Logan’s size, and the Prince was even smaller than he had been as a human. Virgil bit back a chuckle, now understanding the joke Patton hadn’t meant to make. 

“Patton kicked us off the island, and he wants you,” the Duke said. “We’ll be back in a few days with an apology gift, and we won’t argue any more.”

Virgil wondered how they’d managed to get to that kind of solution, but Logan just nodded. 

“Are we… good?” Roman asked, more timid now in his mer form. 

“So long as you are kind to my humans,” Logan said, already swimming back towards the island. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	4. Janus

“You have to keep it in a small tank,” the human instructed. “If you put it in a bigger cage or feed it too much it’ll grow much faster than you’d think.”

Janus curled up beneath the slight cover he had inside the tank, hugging his stomach. Even if they wanted to keep him small, they could feed him just a  _ little  _ more. 

And so his tank was passed to yet another ship. He knew well why he was bought and sold, in hopes that the sea, recognizing one of her own, would be kind to the ship. 

They were wrong, as they were about many things. Did the sea know he was here, and did she care, the ship would be smashed in pieces until he returned. 

A human, though not the one who had bought him, stared into the tank, leaning his head on his hands. “So you’re really such good luck, huh?”

Janus made no effort to reply. Talking to humans just made things worse. 

“You want some food?” The human asked. 

Despite years of trying to train himself out of the habit, Janus’s head always came up at the mention of food. 

“You do, don’t you? Just a minute.”

The boy ran away. He was young, and Janus didn’t know whether that was better or worse. 

He came back later with a piece of hardtack, and while it would surely hurt his stomach later at least it would fill it now. 

The human opened the cover of the tank and held the hardtack above. “Come on, come get it. You just have to jump a little bit.”

Janus shot himself up through the water, but the human moved his hand away. He was teasing him. Janus felt a wave of humiliation and anger well up in his chest, battled by a longing for the food. 

The door opened, and the human shoved the cover back on with a deafening bang. The captain stalked in, grabbing the boy by his ear and yelling something that Janus couldn’t make out over the ringing in his ears. 

The captain dragged the boy out of the room, shutting the door behind him. 

Janus sunk down slowly in the water, winding his long, eel-like tail around himself. If he closed his eyes, he could imagine that the warmth and soft touch was someone else. He hunkered down in the fake treasure chest. 

He flinched slightly when the door to the room banged open, and tried to pretend he was asleep. The tank lid was opened, and Janus opened his eyes just before a hand plunged into the tank. He swam away from it in a panic, but the tank was small for a reason, and despite slipping away once, the hand caught onto him, squeezing hard enough to bruise, and much too tight to squirm out of. 

He was lifted out of the tank, and held face to face with an angry captain. “You bewitched him with your voice.”

“I-I didn’t, I can’t.” Janus said, struggling to breathe from the abrupt transition and the right hand around his middle. 

“I won’t allow that,” the captain said harshly, shaking Janus. 

“Didn’t,” Janus tried to insist, his breath coming even shorter. 

He was dropped into the water, gasping all over again from the transition. The captain closed the tank, draping something heavy and dark over it. 

“We’ll see if you change your tune in a few days.”

The footsteps left the room, and Janus couldn’t help the tears that rose in his eyes. He hurt, and was going to be left here in the dark for days. And then he realized that he probably wasn’t going to be fed either. 

Janus swam down to the treasure chest, bundling himself in and closing the lid. It was tight, very tight, as if he was cupped between two hands. Cupped close and gentle by some that… that wouldn’t hurt him. Someone that would let him eat. Someone that…. that maybe even cared for him. 

He shook, but he didn’t cry, just imagined as he rubbed the top of his head against the side of the box that it was someone too strong, too rough, but trying to be kind. He’d worn a divot in the box, from how long he’d been doing it, and the motion was far more gentle than those first few years, when it had been almost self-harm, scrubbing his head so hard the hair wore away for a time. 

He was left alone there, in the dark and the quiet. Left to his own imaginings. 

  * •^*^••



“Look at that one, Ro,” Remus said. “I just don’t like it.”

Roman threw his hands up. “But that’s not the one we’ve been chasing! What happened to that one?”

Remus shrugged. “It just looks normal now. Look at it, it’s just sitting in the harbor.”

“I am looking at it. It looks just the same as it always did, which is normal. We’ve been chasing these phantom feelings for years, and every time we catch up you just switch it again.”

“But it’s right there! We could attack now!”

“They haven’t done anything!”

“We’re Pirates!”

Roman sighed. “Tell you what. Our men are tired, they need shore leave. I’ll take over for a bit, and you can swim around that boat for a while and do your investigating, ok?”

Remus grinned, showing off teeth sharper than they ought to be. “Gotcha, bro. And thanks!” He hugged Roman, and dove off the side of the ship, not caring that now his clothes would drift away in the sea. 

Roman shook his head. Sometimes he felt much older, despite being smaller, and technically the same age as Remus. 

  * •^*^••



The ship was lurching as if there was a storm. But they’d only just set out. Surely they wouldn’t have gone out to sea with a storm incoming. 

But honestly, Janus didn’t really care. He just braced against the sides of his tank to wait it out, like he waited everything out. He hoped the captain would uncover the tank when the storm was over. 

He didn’t care what he was accused of, he’d be admitting to it and apologizing, and saying whatever he needed to say to get something to eat. 

Already his stomach was threatening to eat him from the inside if he didn’t give it something else to eat. 

The cabin door banged open, and the tank was torn open. 

“What did you do?!” The captain roared. 

All good intentions failed as Janus cowered. “N-nothing.”

“The sea is attacking our ship.  _ Just  _ our ship.” 

Janus tried to avoid the hand grabbing for him, but soon he was torn out of the water and held in front of the captain’s face, hot, rancid breath washing over him. 

“What. Did. You. Do?”

Janus didn’t answer. He wouldn’t be believed anyway. He tuned out the angry yelling, and the pain from the squeeze only registered distantly. 

He let his eyes close, going limp in the human’s hold. He was still being yelled at, and shaken, but he pushed the sensations away. 

  * •^*^••



Remus had been having a grand time prancing the ship for the last two days! At first it was just little pranks, but for the last few hours he’d been shoving it back and forth, and listening to the screams and shouts of the men on board.

Suddenly the Captain was leaning over the side, and Remus got ready to spit a stream of water at him when he started yelling. 

“Is this what you want?!”

He held out something long and yellow. Maybe some kind of eel. Well, Remus was never one to turn down free food. 

“Yes!”

The captain hurled the thing overboard, and Remus swam to find it. He almost caught it in his mouth when he saw that it was a merman. A very, very teeny merman. Remus hadn’t even seen babies that small. 

He looked unconscious. 

Remus grabbed him and pulled him deeper beneath the waves. Deeper and deeper until he found a nice safe cave. The mer curled up in his tail like a baby, and Remus held him in between his hands. He started rubbing his head on Remus’s thumb, his eyes still closed. 

Remus rubbed his head gently, and the little mer stilled, either falling completely unconscious or asleep. Remus did not think that very many things were cute, but this teeny tiny mer was adorable. 

  * •^*^••



Janus woke slowly. He felt warm, and the water felt different. 

He opened his eyes, and leapt away from the… mer?

“Wha—who are you? Where—am I in the ocean?”

“Oh dear, we have a crier,” the mer said, not unkindly. 

“I am not!” Janus insisted, despite feeling very much like he was about to. 

The mer gathered him into a hug and stroked his hair, and Janus couldn’t help crying. He tried to keep it as short and unobtrusive as he could, but then the mer offered to hunt him some fish, and the tears burst out yet again. 

He was left alone to get the rest of his tears out while the mer hunted, and then he ate until he couldn’t possibly fit anything else in. 

The mer put a hand half around him, and Janus curled into it. 

“You’re a touchy little guy, huh?”

Janus didn’t bother protesting, especially as he was pulled closer and held in both hands. He just curled up in his tail, and only barely remembered not to scrub his head against the strange mer, no matter how kind he’d already been. But he stroked a thumb over Janus’s hair incredibly gently, and Janus had to ball up his fists tightly to keep from crying again. 

“I’m Remus, how about you?”

“Janus.”

He wanted to repay Remus, even if only with conversation, but he was so comfortable and full, and he was warm, and held, and before he knew it he was drifting into sleep. 

  
  
  
  
  
  



	5. The destruction of the ship

“He’s such an adorable baby!” Remus cooed, stroking over the tiny mer’s long tail. 

The tiny mer flushed dark, but didn’t protest, hiding behind Remus’s fingers. 

Roman was confused. The mer was as tiny, or tinier, than a baby, but the features on his human half looked much older. 

“Allow me to introduce myself,” he said with a slight, but flourishing, bow. “I am Roman, mer and pirate. Also known as the Prince.”

“I’m Janus,” the tiny mer said. 

“So you’re the reason Remus has been chasing ships all this time?” 

Janus’s eyes went wide, and he turned around to look at Remus. “You’ve been looking for me?” His voice shook. 

“Aww, yeah, I was.” Remus said, surprisingly tender for being, well, Remus. 

Janus gripped tighter to Remus’s hand, his tail curling around his arm. “Thank you. I-I thought… I thought no one would ever know, or— or that they didn’t care.”

Remus looked genuinely concerned, and he petted Janus’s head gently. “I’m sorry. If I’d known how important it was I would have done more. Roman! That’s what I came over here for anyway, I want to sink that ship!”

Looking at Janus, clearly starved in more ways that one, Roman’s first impulse was a resounding Yes! But after only a few seconds more, what he actually said was, “Not everyone on the ship is responsible for this.”

Remus’s face twisted in thought. “So we leave the lifeboats alone! They’re close enough to shore it would only take a few days.”

Roman still wasn’t quite sure. 

Remus rolled his eyes. “Sometimes you’re just too soft, bro. Fine, we’ll give a warning first. But that ship goes down!”

Roman nodded firmly. 

It didn’t take long to reach the ship, even though now Remus couldn’t track it like he could previously. 

Along the trip though, Remus had made himself a sash out of seaweed, and draped it over his chest. Janus clung to it while they swam, since his swimming was almost pitifully slow, as if he’d never swum a league in his life, perhaps not even a reef. 

Roman decided then that he was making himself a red sash. Maybe Remus had sensed Janus, and rescued him and all, but he couldn’t hog him  _ all  _ to himself. 

Remus shot up suddenly, out of the water in view of the ship, but too far away to have anything thrown at him. 

“Get the lifeboats ready!” He yelled. “Your ship is going down!”

He ducked underwater, swimming in an excited circle. “You can give them another warning if you want, but I’m only going to wait half— no, ten minutes, and then I’m taking the ship down!”

Roman nodded firmly. 

He waited a minute before swimming up to give the ship a second warning. The men didn’t seem to be worried, but at least they’d warned them.

Remus was still swimming in quick circles, and trying to get Janus to swim with him, but the poor eel mer was clearly tiring after only one lap, during which Remus passed him more than five times.

Roman held out his arm to Janus. “Come on, he’s going to be just like that until the last piece of the ship sinks. I’ll let you rest.”

Janus looked torn, but finally swam over to Roman, wrapping his tail around his forearm. Roman took a chance on petting his little head, and could hardly resist cooing when the little mer melted against his hand, looking up at him with the most pleading eyes the moment he stopped. 

Remus was still swirling impatiently, disturbing all the water. “Rooooo, I don’t want to wait any longer!”

“Go ahead,” Roman said, still more than a little preoccupied with Janus. “I’ll keep Janus safe back here, you go smash the ship.”

“YES!!!”

Janus looked up at the first creak, and Remus pulled harder at the keel of the ship until it cracked. Roman shifted his hand so that Janus could look over it, and still be safe behind it. 

Remus turned to grin at them with feral energy, and then stabbed the broken keel into the side of the ship. He tore the hole open with such reckless abandon that Roman groaned, knowing that he’d be picking splinters out of Remus’s hands for the next week.

There was a splash as the first lifeboat hit the water, and Roman hoped that there was enough room for the whole crew to fit and get back to shore. Not that they all deserved it, but he did prefer to avoid the killing of innocents. 

After a minute Janus hid behind his hand completely. 

“Are you alright?” Roman asked.

Janus didn’t answer for a long minute, which seemed longer due to the carnage being wreaked by Remus, who was now attacking a curious shark that had gotten too close. “I don’t know.”

“Do you want to go away from here?”

Janus shook his head. 

“We’ll still get back with Remus in a bit, you don’t have to worry about leaving him.”

Janus nodded. “Thanks, but no. I want to stay.”

“Alright.” Roman gently petted his head, hoping to make him feel better, but he stopped immediately when Janus instead burst into tears. 

“Oh! Oh, I’m so sorry, did I hurt you?”

Janus shook his head, but he didn’t stop crying. Roman pulled him closer to his chest, hoping a hug might help, and Janus held onto him, so it must’ve helped a little, but he just kept crying.

At some point Remus came back, and Janus was  _ still _ crying, Roman completely at a loss.

“What did you do?!?” Remus yelled, grabbing for Janus immediately. 

Janus accepted the change, and sobbed into Remus’s arm. 

“Janus, what happened?” Remus asked, more concern on his face than Roman had seen since that time he’d gotten himself caught in a swarm of jellyfish. 

“I-I’m so- _ orry! _ ” Janus cried. “I-I didn’t me-an to-- mean to cry. I-it’s just… It’s what I…” He kept sobbing, his whole body shaking with the force, and he clung tightly to Remus’s wrist.

“It’s alright to cry,” Roman said softly. “But are you alright?”

Janus nodded, but his crying never stopped. 

The twins looked at each other, both very worried. 

“Let’s find a place to take a nap,” Roman suggested, and Remus nodded.

So they swam down until they reached a nice, large bed of kelp, and tucked down in it, twining their tails together, and leaving just enough room between them for Janus. It took a while for him to calm down, but once he had he quickly fell asleep. 

The twins rested as well, not really able to sleep without knowing what had made him so upset. 

But a while later he woke up, and both of them gave him all their attention immediately. 

“Sorry for falling apart,” Janus muttered, clearly embarrassed. 

“It’s alright,” Roman said immediately. 

“But what made you so upset?” Remus asked. 

“I wasn’t even upset, really. You just—“ he took in a deep breath. “You’re both so very kind to me, and you, you took vengeance for me, and you’re keeping me safe, and—“ his voice choked. “And you pet my head, and I  _ know  _ it’s dumb, but it’s everything I ever wanted and I’m so happy!” He sounded like he was about to start crying again. “I-I’d do anything to stay.”

Remus grabbed him closer in a crushing hug. “You don’t ever, ever have to worry about that. You’re staying, forever and ever.”

“We’re not letting you go. Not ever.” Roman promised. 

Janus choked out a ‘thank you’, trying to hold onto both of them at the same time. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
